Japanese Billionaire Seeks 8 Crew Members For 2023 Private SpaceX Lunar Trip

Umer Jamshaid Published March 03, 2021 | 01:42 PM

Japanese billionaire and fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa on Tuesday announced a global contest to select eight crew members to join him in a private lunar mission aboard SpaceX's Starship in 2023

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd March, 2021) Japanese billionaire and fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa on Tuesday announced a global contest to select eight crew members to join him in a private lunar mission aboard SpaceX's Starship in 2023.

The deadline for submitting the applications expires on March 14. In total, 10-12 people will participate in the lunar trip, including Maezawa himself. Applicants for a seat on the spacecraft should explain what impact the space flight will have on their activities, how the flight can serve the benefit of humanity as a whole, and how a participant can be useful to other crew members.

"It will take 3 days to get to the Moon, loop behind it and 3 days to come back. I will pay for the entire journey. I have bought all the seats, so it will be a private ride. Ten to 12 of us will be on board, and I hope that together we can make it a fun trip," Maezawa said in a video address on YouTube.

The billionaire previously said that he wanted representatives of creative professions - film directors, actors, musicians, photographers, fashion designers - to join him on this trip.

In 2018, the billionaire became the first man to book a seat onboard the lunar spaceship being developed by SpaceX. The project, dubbed dearMoon, is expected to be the first private and commercial spaceflight with humans beyond Earth's orbit.

SpaceX is developing a space transportation system consisting of a fully reusable Super Heavy launch vehicle and a Starship spacecraft. The system will allow the delivery of satellites, crews and cargo both to the near-Earth orbit and to the Moon and Mars.

In February, SpaceX's Starship prototype crashed and burned while attempting to land in the Texas outback, becoming the second time the test flight of this prototype rocket ended in an explosion.